Investigation of Leakage Current in 150 kV Payakumbuh Koto Panjang Insulators

Abstract Insulators in electrical energy transmission and distribution systems play an important role. This study investigates the impact of surface contamination, including dust and moss, on the leakage current (LC) characteristics of 150 kV insulators in the Payakumbuh - Koto Panjang area, West Sumatra. Testing the leakage current with varying temperature and humidity conditioning and measuring NSDD (non-soluble deposit density) and ESDD (equivalent salt deposit density) using the swab technique in accordance with the IEC TS 60815-1-2008 standard, this study aims to determine the LC and the level of contamination. Research results. In insulators with one disk, the LC is about 0.15 mA for moss and 0.18 mA for dust. For two disks, the LC increases to about 0.17 mA for moss and 0.22 mA for dust, while at three disks, the LC reaches about 0.2 mA for moss and 0.32 mA for dust. In addition, dust-contaminated insulators show higher ESDD (0,206128196) and NSDD (0,379475496) values than moss-contaminated EDDD (0, 058510867) and NSDD (0, 164784579). In conclusion, addressing dust contamination is critical to improving electrical system reliability, given its more pronounced effect on insulator performance compared to moss contamination of 150 kV insulators at Payakumbuh - Koto Panjang.